Tuesday, September 29, 2015

One surreal encounter that Ms. Smith describes—and has discussed publicly—is an all-night meeting with the chess prodigy [Bobby Fischer] in Reykjavik. After some initial awkwardness the two found common ground by singing the songs of Buddy Holly and others from the golden age of rock ’n’ roll. At one point, Ms. Smith recalls, Fischer’s bodyguard burst in on the meeting, alarmed by hearing “something strange.” It turned out to be the chess champ singing the falsetto chorus from “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”